Fil-Am uses boxing skills to direct family drama in LA

“God Will Do the Rest,” a play about a Filipino American family’s “hidden truths and harbored secrets” by Nicholas Pilapil, will be directed by Fran de Leon. CONTRIBUTED

LOS ANGELES — What happens when forty-something divorcee Connie, the family’s black sheep who’s been estranged for two decades, returns home for the 70^th birthday of her glamorously overbearing mother?

In addition to prayers to the Santo Niño, karaoke and chicken adobo, she has to deal with her wayward son, tough-as-nails father, bougie sister with the white doctor boyfriend and flamboyant favorite aunt in a home “exploding in an uproar of hidden truths and harbored secrets.”

Filipino American playwright Nicholas Pilapil’s play “God Will Do the Rest” will have its world premiere at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, presented by Artists at Play and Latino Theater Company.

This family’s drama will be helmed by Fil-Am director Fran de Leon. In a story where there is sure to be conflict, perhaps it helps when the director has a background in boxing.

Boxing

“In boxing, it’s important to know when to go for speed, when to come in with power, when to block, when to slip and duck, and when to take a breather and just dance with footwork,” says De Leon.

“I suppose it’s the same with directing family interaction and conflict. A character shouldn’t always come in hard, and never at the same pace. They never want to get hurt, and sometimes will block and counter a hurt by hurting back.

“Other times, they try to avoid and dance around the issue. For this family in particular, they are so much about slips and ducks that they’ve fallen out of sync, and no one wants to throw the first jab-cross, until finally they’re up against the ropes and have no choice but to come in with a power punch.

Hilarious

Conflicts notwithstanding, there are laughs to be had. “Nicholas Pilapil wrote a play that is unapologetically and hilariously Filipino American, from characters having multiple nicknames, to the unleashed beasts we become when watching a basketball game, to the secrets we keep from each other in the name of protection.

“Just like every other Filipino American gathering, we’re going to see a lot of food … because that’s our collective cultural love language … let’s be honest, something is always cooking in our houses, diba?” De Leon says.

Will non-Filipino theatergoers be able to relate to the material? “I would hope so. However, we’re not going to bend over backwards and sacrifice authenticity to chase relatability. I don’t think that serves anyone,” she says.

“I believe that the more culturally specific and true we go, the more universally resonant the experience will be. So, to all the non-brown audiences, I promise you, you can relate to brown people’s stories just as easily.”

Process

De Leon has been involved with this play from its earliest incarnations. She portrayed the mother character in developmental readings.

“Having the chance to dive deep into one of the two lead roles has definitely helped as I shift over to director. I think in general, that’s why people ask me to direct is because I very much see from the actor’s perspective: to understand where each character is coming from, their intrinsic needs and methods of getting what they want out of life,” she says.

Shifting from one role to another is one of the themes of the play. “I think that at one point or another, we’ve all felt like an outsider and misunderstood by those who share our DNA. For some, like Connie, you’ll see it’s blatantly obvious,” De Leon says.

“We tend to take on roles in our families, sometimes taken, sometimes earned. But when something in our individual life shifts, when we evolve into something different, making it hard to stay within the confines of those roles, it throws off the family dynamics. How do we get it back, if at all? We get to witness this family effort [in this play].”

“God Will Do the Rest” runs Aug. 29 to Sept. 29 at Los Angeles Theatre Center. Visit artistsatplay.org. Walter Ang is the author of Barangay to Broadway: Filipino American Theater. Available at Amazon, Bookshop and other online booksellers.